Zapier Alternatives in 2026: 9 Automation Tools Compared

Key takeaways

• Make is our pick for most small businesses: a free plan with 1,000 credits a month and a visual builder, with paid plans that its pricing page lists from $9 per month.
• Activepieces is the cleanest open source choice: its code is MIT licensed, it can be self-hosted, and the cloud free plan allows unlimited flows and up to 5 users.
• n8n can be self-hosted, but it uses the Sustainable Use License rather than a standard open source license, so read the terms before using it in a client project.
• Zapier's own free plan stops at 100 tasks per month and Professional starts at $19.99 per month, so the cheaper alternatives mostly win on volume and on steps per automation.
• Pabbly Connect and Albato are the budget picks, while IFTTT suits home and smart device automations more than business workflows.

Quick comparison

The best Zapier alternatives

Zapier connects thousands of apps, but its pricing is built on tasks, and costs rise quickly once you run multi-step automations. Zapier's pricing page lists a Free plan with 100 tasks per month, Professional from $19.99 per month and Team from $69 per month. The nine tools below take different routes on price, hosting and ease of use, and each is described from its own pricing and documentation pages.

1. Make

• Best for: Visual workflows on a small budget
• Starting price: $9 per month
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: make.com

Make is the first alternative we would try for most small businesses. Its scenarios are built on a visual canvas, and each action a scenario performs uses a credit. The free plan includes 1,000 credits per month, and Make says router and error handler modules do not consume credits.

Make's own pricing page, as surfaced in search, lists $9 per month for Core, $16 for Pro and $29 for Teams at the 10,000-credit tier, while a Make blog post shows higher figures of $12, $21 and $38. We could not tell which billing term applies, so confirm the figure on the live page. Core now tops out at 300,000 credits per month, and larger tiers sit in Pro.

The honest catch is the learning curve. The canvas is powerful but less guided than Zapier, and credit counting rewards you for designing efficient scenarios.

Pros

• Free plan with 1,000 credits per month
• Visual scenario builder
• Router and error handler modules do not use credits

Cons

• Billing is per credit, so long scenarios use more
• Steeper learning curve than guided tools

2. n8n

• Best for: Technical teams who want control
• Starting price: 20 euros per month
• Free plan: Free trial
• Website: n8n.io

n8n counts one workflow run as one execution, however many nodes it contains. That is a big difference from per-task billing. The Starter cloud plan is listed at 20 euros per month on annual billing for 2,500 executions, and the cloud trial needs no credit card and includes 1,000 executions.

You can also host it yourself. The code is available under n8n's Sustainable Use License, which allows use, copying and modification with limitations, and files marked .ee need an Enterprise license. That is source-available rather than open source in the strict sense, so check that your use fits the terms, especially for client or resale work.

n8n suits people who are comfortable with APIs and a little code. A non-technical owner will find Make or Zapier friendlier.

Pros

• Self-hosting option
• Counts executions, not steps
• Starter cloud plan from 20 euros per month

Cons

• Source is under the Sustainable Use License, not standard open source
• Needs more technical skill

3. Activepieces

• Best for: Open source automation you can self-host
• Starting price: Free
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: activepieces.com

Activepieces is the best fit if open source matters. Its repository says the Community Edition is released under the MIT license, with enterprise features under a separate commercial license, and the product can be self-hosted. It describes itself as an open source replacement for Zapier.

On the cloud, the Free plan is $0 with 1,000 credits a month, unlimited flows and up to five users. Plus is $20 flat per month for ten times the Free credits, then pay as you go, and Team is $200 per month with 25 users. Credits beyond the plan cost $0.007 each.

The drawback is the smaller library. Its own materials give varying counts of integrations (the page cites 770+ in one place and 200+ pieces elsewhere), so check that your apps are covered before you start.

Pros

• Community Edition is MIT licensed
• Free cloud plan with unlimited flows and up to 5 users
• Cloud or on-premises hosting

Cons

• Free cloud plan has 1,000 credits per month
• Pieces count is stated inconsistently

4. Pabbly Connect

• Best for: Budget users with high task counts
• Starting price: See website
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: pabbly.com

Pabbly Connect competes mainly on price. It offers a free plan with 100 tasks per month and no card, and its page highlights lifetime plans alongside monthly ones, which is unusual in this category.

The pricing page we could read showed prices in Indian rupees only, with a Standard plan of 10,000 tasks per month listed at 1,138 rupees per month. We could not confirm a US dollar price from Pabbly's own pages, and older material cites a $19 entry plan, so we list the starting price as See website. The page also notes that internal app steps are not counted as tasks.

Lifetime deals sound appealing, but a one-time payment ties you to one vendor, so test the free plan against your real automations first.

Pros

• Free plan with 100 tasks per month
• Lifetime plans available
• Says internal app steps do not count as tasks

Cons

• Plan names and task counts differ across its pages
• Lifetime plans tie you to one vendor

5. Integrately

• Best for: One-click automations for non-technical users
• Starting price: $19.99 per month
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: integrately.com

Integrately is aimed at people who want ready-made automations rather than a blank canvas. The free plan includes 100 tasks with single-step automations, while paid plans run Starter at $19.99 per month (2,000 tasks), Professional at $39 (10,000 tasks), Growth at $99 (30,000 tasks) and Business at $239 (150,000 tasks), all on annual billing.

Multi-step automations, branching and faster update intervals arrive on paid plans. The page also advertises a first-month premium offer of $5, which is a promotion rather than a standing price.

It is a simple route for common app pairs. If you build complex logic with several branches, Make or n8n will give you more room.

Pros

• Free plan with 100 tasks
• Starter plan from $19.99 per month billed annually
• Live chat support listed on all plans

Cons

• Free plan is limited to single-step automations
• Paid prices shown assume annual billing

6. Albato

• Best for: Small teams and agencies
• Starting price: $15 per month
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: albato.com

Albato prices by transactions. The Free plan gives 100 transactions per month, five active automations and two steps per automation. Pro is $22 per month on monthly billing or $15 on the annual rate for 1,000 transactions, and the Teams plan lists $93 monthly or $65 annually from 5,000 transactions.

Pro adds unlimited automations and steps and a 5-minute automation update interval, with a 7-day trial. Extra transactions cost about three cents each on the pricing page, which can add up if you run high volumes.

Albato is a decent choice for a small team that wants a modest bill and unlimited steps. For heavy volumes, compare it against Pabbly Connect and Make.

Pros

• Free plan with 100 transactions
• Pro plan lists unlimited automations and steps
• 7-day trial on Pro

Cons

• Pro includes only 1,000 transactions per month
• Free plan allows 5 active automations

7. IFTTT

• Best for: Home, devices and simple personal tasks
• Starting price: Free
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: ifttt.com

IFTTT is the oldest name on this list and still the easiest. The free plan allows two Applets, Pro costs $2.99 per month on annual billing for 20 Applets with multi-action Applets and faster speeds, and Pro+ costs $8.99 per month on annual billing for unlimited Applets, filters and AI services.

It shines for smart home gadgets, notifications and simple connections between consumer services. It is a weak choice for a business that needs branching logic, large volumes or team features.

If your goal is to replace a handful of personal Zaps, IFTTT may be all you need. If you run client work or sales processes, look at Make or n8n instead.

Pros

• Free plan with 2 Applets
• Easy mobile app
• Pro from $2.99 per month

Cons

• Free plan is very small
• Not designed for complex business workflows

8. Microsoft Power Automate

• Best for: Teams already inside Microsoft 365
• Starting price: $15 per user per month
• Free plan: Free trial (30 days)
• Website: microsoft.com

Power Automate is the natural option for offices that live in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Excel. Microsoft's pricing page lists Premium at $15 per user per month on yearly billing, with Process at $150 per bot per month and Hosted Process at $215 per bot per month for desktop automation.

Microsoft's licensing documentation says Microsoft 365 licenses include Power Automate for scenarios using standard connectors, and that if a flow does not use a premium connector you do not need a Premium license. The daily action limit in those cases is 6,000.

The weakness is the licensing maze. Premium connectors, desktop flows and process licenses are priced separately, so check which connectors your flows touch before you plan the cost.

Pros

• Premium plan at $15 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 includes limited use with standard connectors
• 30-day trial

Cons

• Premium connectors need a paid license
• Licensing is complex for outsiders

9. Windmill

• Best for: Developers building internal tools
• Starting price: Free
• Free plan: Yes
• Website: windmill.dev

Windmill is a different breed. It is an open source developer platform for scripts, workflows and internal apps rather than a no-code connector, and its repository says it is fully open source under the AGPLv3 license with commercial support and licenses available.

The pricing page shows a Free and open source plan from $0 with unlimited executions when you self-host it. Cloud and enterprise pricing is based on builders and workers, and the page lists $20 per builder per month and $10 per non-builder per month in one view.

That makes sense if you have an engineer on the team who would rather write scripts than drag blocks. A non-technical owner should start with Make or Activepieces.

Pros

• Open source with a free self-hosted option
• Unlimited executions when self-hosted
• Scripts, flows and apps in one tool

Cons

• Aimed at developers, not casual users
• Enterprise features need a license

How we picked these

We looked for tools that a small US business can use as a Zapier replacement today, and we mixed the well-known names with open source and developer options. We read each vendor's pricing page, documentation and license text, and we marked a price as See website when we could not verify it. We did not run hands-on tests.

We considered the free plan, the cost at modest volumes, how usage is counted, whether you can self-host, and how technical the setup is. Prices are US dollars as of 24 October 2026 unless stated, and they change often.

How to choose a Zapier alternative

Start by counting your automations and how many steps each one has. A tool that counts tasks, credits or transactions can look cheap with one step and expensive with ten.

Understand how usage is counted

Zapier counts tasks. Make counts credits per action, n8n counts executions per workflow run, Albato counts transactions, and Activepieces uses credits. The same automation can cost very different amounts across those models, so run one real workflow and work out the monthly total.

Think about hosting and licenses

Self-hosting saves subscription fees but adds server work, updates and security. Activepieces is MIT licensed and Windmill is AGPLv3, while n8n uses its Sustainable Use License. If you build automations for clients, read the license first.

Check your apps and your support needs

Confirm that the apps you use are supported, including their triggers and actions. Also check the support level on the plan you can afford, since cheaper plans often come with email or community support only.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free alternative to Zapier?

Make offers 1,000 credits per month on its free plan, and Activepieces offers unlimited flows with 1,000 credits per month. IFTTT is free for two Applets, and Pabbly Connect, Integrately and Albato each give 100 tasks or transactions free.

What are the best open source alternatives to Zapier?

Activepieces (MIT) and Windmill (AGPLv3) are open source and self-hostable. n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License, which is not a standard open source license.

Is Make cheaper than Zapier?

Often, though it depends on how many actions your scenarios run. Make's pricing page lists a Core plan from $9 per month at 10,000 credits, while Zapier Professional starts from $19.99 per month. Confirm both on their live pages for your volume.

Can I use Zapier alternatives without coding?

Yes. Make, Integrately, Albato, IFTTT, Pabbly Connect and Activepieces are no-code. n8n and Windmill reward some technical skill.

Can I move my Zaps to another tool?

Not automatically. You usually have to rebuild each automation, so migrate one at a time and keep the old Zap running until the new one has run cleanly.

Sources

1. https://zapier.com/pricing
2. https://help.make.com/adjustments-to-plans-and-pricing
3. https://www.make.com/en/pricing
4. https://n8n.io/pricing/
5. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/n8n-io/n8n/master/LICENSE.md
6. https://www.activepieces.com/pricing
7. https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces
8. https://www.pabbly.com/connect/pricing/
9. https://integrately.com/pricing
10. https://albato.com/pricing
11. https://ifttt.com/plans
12. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/products/power-automate/pricing
13. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/admin/power-automate-licensing/faqs
14. https://www.windmill.dev/pricing
15. https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill